


Bloody Glitter

by Wonderwalling



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst, Cliffhangers, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Implied Relationships, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, Non Canon Timeline, One Shot, POV Third Person, Protective Dean Winchester, Protective Sam Winchester, Season/Series 04, Soulmates, Supernatural Elements, Writing, non Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-05-31 23:33:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6492121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wonderwalling/pseuds/Wonderwalling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amber had had enough tonight. First, a rampaging demon that gave her a good beating, only to have her wake up, in a field, with a fucking unicorn gnawing on the grass next to her. She knew she had taken a blow to the head, but, really, it wasn't that hard, was it?</p><p>Or the one where Dean hopes, prays, kills a few demons for good measure that the prophecy he heard in hell is not coming to pass; and Sam who, maybe, has found someone to share his loneliness with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bloody Glitter

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all!
> 
> Just a note: this is a non canon story. The timeline is somewhere in Season 4 of Supernatural (because that is how far I have gotten with the show at the moment). 
> 
> I know Veritas shows up later in the show, but having her in the story is not linked to that in anyway. 
> 
> It is just a one shot; a little practice writing for me. 
> 
> Let me know what you think, how it made you feel, and any and all changes I should make. 
> 
> Thanks!

She showed up at the Motel soaking wet, bruised, and covered in glitter. He would have been more shocked if it wasn't for the fact that she was, well, sparkling. 

"Don't even fucking ask..." She pushed on past Sam, shaking off her jacket and wincing at the pain. 

"Wow! What happened to you?" Dean spat from across the room. "Have a fight with a unicorn or something!" 

Amber glared at him in shock, turned around and slowly sat down in the chair. So much for a welcome back. 

"You didn't, did you?" Sam questioned. She looked at him, narrowing her eyes, but reminded silent. 

"They aren't real, Sammy." Dean mentioned nonchalantly from across the room. 

"So wasn’t everything else that we have ever faced, but hey." 

Dean shrugged. 

Amber bristled, and Sam moved on closer. He knelt down in front of her, hands gently resting on her knees. Tipping his head to one side, she heard all the questions he wouldn't ask. Not now. She shook her head, closing her eyes, and letting out a shallow breath. 

"Well, wasn't that a touching and endearing moment. Wish I could have shared it there with you too, but you know, I speak in words, not blinking eyes and head shakes." 

"Oh fuck off, Dean." Amber got up, pushing past Sam and tried to stomp away to the bathroom. 

"Helps if you don't have broken ribs." Before he could react, there was a knife sticking out of the headboard, mere inches from his head, and with a defiant thud, Amber had left the brothers staring at a bathroom door. 

She had had enough tonight. First, a rampaging demon that gave her a good beating, only to have her wake up, in a field, with a fucking unicorn gnawing on the grass next to her. She knew she had taken a blow to the head, but, really, it wasn't that hard, was it? Next thing, the unicorn was jumping over her (and a lot on her too) as bullets rang out, before sparkling blood erupted from the poor creature and left her soaked. 

She didn't stick around to ask too many questions, because there was no one to ask. So, she hauled ass back to the boys, finally. She should have known Dean would be in his usual five year old mood. He didn't process things that well. And maybe throwing the knife at him was a bit much, but really, did he ever know when to shut up? 

Maybe she didn't process too well either. 

She clutched onto the sink, watching the faint purple bloom around her lip. She had a golf ball of a bump on her head. Her once blue shirt was now more of a crimson colour. 

Amber hissed as she lifted it up. She was covered in so much blood that it was difficult to say where it she had actually sprung a leak.  
Slowly getting undressed and climbing into the shower, she tried to wash off as much as she could. She would definitely need stitches for the one cut. Dean was most likely right (though she wouldn’t tell him that) about her broken ribs. She was a mess. A glittering, bloody mess. 

Perfect. 

She heard the bathroom door creak open, but didn't turn to look. She just let the hot water drown out everything else. Someone mumbled something and the door clicked closed again. 

When she did emerge there were a pile of her clean clothes in the sink. 

"Oh Sam..." A small smiled spread, leaving her feeling warmer than the shower did. 

She pulled on the clothes, and exited the bathroom. Sam looked up, concern etched on his face, but said nothing. Dean was still lazing on the bed, but was now stuffing his face with pizza. 

"Thanks for the knife! Don't know how I would have cut the pizza otherwise." 

"Aren't you in a delightful fucking mood tonight." Amber stood at the foot of his bed, arms crossed. 

"Me? How about you there! Waltz right in here and throw a knife at my head like nothing had happened." Dean sat up, the pizza dripping onto his shirt. Cursing under his breath, he swiped it off with his hand. 

"Good one there, genius." 

"Well at least I didn't get beat up by a mythical creature." 

Amber opened her mouth to tell him that he was about to become a mythical creature before Sam told them to both shut up. Amber huffed and walked over to the other bed where the first aid kit was already open and waiting. 

"Let me," Sam said, yet again kneeling in front of her. She wasn't going to argue. She lifted up her shirt, and closed her eyes. The first stitch pierced through her aching skin. Amber bit down on her lip. 

"I'm sorry." 

Four stitches later, and nauseous, Amber was kind of in one piece again. Sam was cleaning up the mess around the bed, as she curled up, and tried to get comfortable. 

"Was it really a unicorn?" Dean asked. 

"Dean..." Sam hissed out a warning, and she knew exactly what look he was giving his brother now. Amber tried to turn around, which was a mistake, because twisting caused immense pain everywhere. But she was no quitter and so, painfully, she was now facing Dean, curled up on the opposite bed, as the he tried to cover the concern washing across his face. 

"I don't really know." The bed dipped behind her, and a gentle hand rested on top of hers. Dean gave Sam a look she couldn't really read. 

"I was in a dodge place fighting some demon, he hit me pretty hard," the free hand absentmindedly reaching to the bump on her head. "When I came to I was in a field and there was a... well, a white horse with a horn on its head." 

"A unicorn?" Sam questioned. 

"I am not saying it was..." 

"And you are not saying it wasn't, either," filled in Dean. Amber nodded. 

"But how did you get to the field?" Sam asked. Amber wanted to turn around and look at him, but trying that once tonight was enough for now. 

"Beats me." 

"Just like that demon did," Dean chuckled to himself, but stopped rather abruptly. "Oh come on you two! Seriously. Amber can take out a hoard of them with one flick of her wrist, but this chump comes along and you look like a pinata at a kids birthday party." 

"Kinda feel like one too." 

"He must have been a pretty strong demon." Sam tried to keep his voice neutral, but there was a flicker of worry attached to it. 

"Or every other one was easy enough to handle because it was us three against them and not just poor, little, ol' me." Amber suggested. Dean smirked, lulling his head from side to side. 

"Could be. Or, like Sammy said: one hell of a strong demon." 

"Are you defending me?" 

"Don't get used to it, little one." Dean said. Amber couldn't help but smile. He was a jerk face, but he had kind of become her jerk face. Her-almost-big-brother-type-jerk-face. He needed reminding of the fact. 

"Jerk face." 

Dean put his hand dramatically to his face, throwing his nonexistent hair over his shoulder. 

"My face is beautiful, thank you very much." 

Amber and Sam bubbled with laughter and the tension eased to the corner of the room. It was silently agreed that the topic would be left till the morning.  
Some truths are better looked at in the light of a breaking day. Some secrets are meant to be kept to the darkening night. 

Dean went back to eating his pizza. She could see him look over to her every now and again, as if he was waiting for her to up and vanish at any moment. Sam stayed next to Amber. His warm hand on hers, keeping her in that place as he shared his brothers fears, all the while she hurtled towards sleep faster than she would have liked. 

\---

Amber woke up stiff and hot, with another body close to her. The pain woke up too, with every inch of her aching, but she dared not move. The room was filled with the soft sounds of both brothers sleeping. 

Amber laid there with Sam mere inches from her, and let the time slip on by. She nudged on closer to him, as much as her broken body would allow. He shuffled in his sleep, the space between them becoming non existent as he slung his arm over her middle. She winced at the pain it caused her ribs, the comfort of having him closer outweighed her shallow breaths, and so she didn’t push him away. 

Suddenly her skin crawled and the sounds of sleeping were not the only sounds in the room. Her heart sped up, her muscles tensed, reaching for a knife on the bedside table, slowly. 

"Don't" it seemed to whisper in her head. "I mean you no harm." That didn't make her feel any more safe. 

"I didn't expect it would. A hunter is always on edge." 

"You can hear my thoughts then." 

"So it seems." 

Amber lifted her head slightly, but could see nothing save for a patch in the room where the chair should be, that was more black than the darkness. A darker darkness. 

"What are you?" 

"I am help." 

"For who?" 

"An excellent question." 

"Why are you here?" Amber felt like it sighed. The darkness raised up, floating towards the bed. Sam stirred next to her, clutching around her tighter. 

"Sleep now, child. For with the morning light comes more monsters than the darkness can ever hope to hide." 

\--- 

"I told you, I don’t know what it was. It was like a dark blob and it spoke to me in my head." 

"It could have just been a dream, Amb." Sam suggested, not for the first time. 

"I know the difference between a dream and what that was." She snapped back, not for the first time either. He sighed, and pulled up his laptop. 

"I'll see what I can find." 

Dean stayed uncharacteristically quiet, offering no ridiculous theories, or smart ass comments. He sat on the edge of the bed, watching her with a pity in his eyes. 

"Any ideas there?" 

"Could have been a dream. Sammy is normally right about this stuff."  
Both Sam and Amber looked at him like he was a new exhibition in a house of horrors. 

"Give it up, Winchester. What's going on?" 

"It's nothing." Dean stood up, walking towards the door. 

"Dean. Wait!" Sam caught the door just before it had slammed, but Dean was already in his car, reversing out of the motel parking area. 

\--- 

Even the blaring of Asia couldn’t quiten Dean's thoughts. This couldn't be happening. His eyes burned as memories filled the small space of the car. Dark, cramped spaces. Screams that never ended. And pain that had no words to describe it. But through the chaos of it all he still remembers those words. 

And he hoped he was wrong. 

The Impala came to a screeching halt outside the church. Dean flung the door shut behind him, and took the stairs two at a time. 

The doors creaked open, the silence welcoming him in. There were a few tricks he had learnt on the flip side. 

Walking up to the baptism stand, Dean placed his offerings to the water and hoped for an answer. But nothing came. Time passed dismally as Dean perched in the pew, feet up and twisting the demon blade between his hands. 

Typical. 

"Oh do my eyes deceive me?" A voice purred from the back of the church. 

"Doubt it, darling, seen as deceit isn't your forte in life." Dean didn't move from his place. 

"Dean Winchester. Life suits you." A hand brushed on his shoulder. Dean turned around to green eyes. 

"Veritas." He looked her up and down, appreciating what he saw. She smiled at him, sitting down next to him, her hand landing on his thigh. 

"You called me?" 

"I have a question." 

"It will cost you." 

"I know." 

Veritas looked at Dean, a half smile dancing on her lips. 

"The answer is yes." She whispered to him. 

Dean's breath caught. He knew it would be, but that didn’t make hearing it any easier. Truth was funny that way: Wanting it, and getting it were always too very different things. 

"When do you want your payment?" 

Veritas leaned forward and placed a kiss on his stubbled cheek. "I will be in touch." And as easily as that, she was no longer there. With no trace that she ever was. 

Dean leaned back, with no rush to face the reality of what was to come. Just two moments more of peace was okay. 

\-- 

"Sam, we should go and find him. It is almost dark." Amber paced the room, as Sam sat scanning through the article after article. 

"He will be back when he wants to." 

"Thanks for the words of wisdom there, Plato." 

Same leaned back in his chair, watching Amber gnaw at her nails frantically. Sam wanted nothing more than to comfort her, but like his brother, sometimes it was better to just leave them be. 

Just like they had left her be. 

Whatever had happened before she pitched up at their motel room was not even a fraction of the story. Amber had been gone for almost two weeks. Dean had told Sam to keep calm, not to worry, that he was getting clingy and weird. But Sam knew that Dean was just as worried. 

They would both called Bobby to see if he had heard anything. They would go and check out old spots, follow some leads, but Amber was nowhere to be found.  
Sam had tried not to let the panic get out of control. She would be back, he knew that. But in what state?  
Amber had burst into their lives in a flurry of gunfire and knife fights, and had stayed ever since. Slowly, bit by bit she had started to share who she was with them, and in turn they had opened up to her in different ways. 

Dean had found someone he could mentor, and protect. Someone as hard as him on the outside, with just as much as a soft center.  
Sam, on the other hand, had found something more. Someone that he could maybe share his loneliness with. And maybe they could be lonely together, in this messed up life they had. 

But it was slow going for both of them. Some scars run a lot deeper than you would ever want to admit. 

So he let her pace the room, just as he had let his brother pretend he wasn't worried when she went missing. 

Each in its own time. 

"We have at least found out more about the dream," Amber glared at him, "I mean the visit you had. It could be Morpheus." 

"Dream god who floats through dreams with black wings, and can morph into any form he chooses."  
Sam nodded. 

"Doesn't explain why he came as a big blob of darkness." 

"No, it doesn't." 

"Or why he even visited me. And then didn’t even say anything at all." 

The door clicked open. Sam sprung from his chair, and Amber pulled a knife out from her back. 

"Is that the welcome I get?" 

They both let out a sigh of relief as Dean, with a rather forced smile sauntered into the room. 

"I should fucking throw this at you, asshole! Where were you?" Amber strode up to him, punching him on his shoulder. 

"Weren't worried, were you, little one?" 

"Fuck off." 

Sam said nothing as they bickered with each other. He placed himself back in the chair again, clicking through some more articles. Amber demanded to know where Dean was, and Dean said that she was too young to know about such things. 

"Okay, Dean. Enough." Sam said, standing up and facing him. 

There was a time to let them be, and then there was a time not to. This was the time for the latter. 

"Where were you?" Dean squared his shoulders, and Sam crossed his arms. They shared a look. One they knew all too well: This was going to hurt. Dean shook his head, and stepped back. 

"It's complicated." 

"We are pretty smart, you know." Amber chipped in. 

"Hopefully not smart enough." 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Amber asked, arms folded too. 

"Look, long story short," Dean said, walking towards the bar fridge and cracking open one of the mini bottles of something, "there was this prophecy I had heard of in..." 

Another gulp of the liquid and it was gone, "basically something bad is coming and dream boy that visited you is kind of an invitation." 

"An invitation to what?" Sam asked, moving closer to Amber. 

"A beautifully hellish dance." The sarcasm couldn’t cover the amount of fear in Dean's words. Not this time. He reached for another bottle and finished it in one go. 

Amber looked up to Dean. She looked lost. Her eyes too dark. Her face too hard. Sam wanted nothing more than to take the pain away, to take this whole life away. He wanted to see her smile. To hear her laugh. To see his brother whole again. God, he wanted to be whole again too. 

But he couldn’t do that. So did the next best thing he knew: He would keep them safe, no matter what. 

"We should all get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long drive." Dean walked over to the bed, kicked off his shoes and pulled back the sheet. He collapsed into it, as silence took the room again. No one asked where they were going, all knowing that it didn’t really matter. Either way, they would get up and go. And what every waited for them at the end of the line, they would all face it. 

Sam stood tight lipped, looking at Amber. Just one moment of peace, that would be okay. Just for tonight. 

\--- 

Dawn hadn't even broken yet and Dean had already ushered them into the car. All he said was that they were going to find help. Someone to shut down this party before it ever got a chance to start. 

Amber rested her head against the window watching the world blur on past. Sam and Dean chatted up front about what Sam had found out about her dream visitor.  
Morpheus was the ancient Greek god of dreams. Apparently he was the son of Hypnos, the god of sleep, and good ol' Morpheus could morph his way into your dreams and deliver messages from the Gods. If you believed in that stuff. Amber wasn't sure she did.  
She wasn't sure she didn't either. 

But it spooked Dean enough to have them drive across the country for 'help', so it couldn't be good either way. Whatever he learnt in Hell he did not want to share. She didn't blame him. She could never imagine what it would have felt like to be there. But, if what he knew could help, then Dean better start talking, soon. 

"He had a brother. The kind of ying to his yang." 

"So what? He brought bad news?" Dean asked. 

"More like bad dreams. Phobetor was the bringer of nightmares." 

"It wasn’t a nightmare, though." Amber said. 

"You said you were awake?" Dean asked. 

"I felt awake. I was awake.... I think. But, it wasn't a nightmare. Whoever visited me wasn't there to harm me. It was bringing a message." 

"But didn’t stick around to actually tell you exactly what the message said?" 

"No, Dean, it didn't" Amber sighed, and turned to look out the window again. Dean muttered under his breath about how typical it was for these damn begins to be so mystical. 

"Why they just can't be straightforward for once!" 

"Would take the fun out of the whole thing." Amber chidded from the back. Sam turned around, offering her a soft smile. She returned one to him, hoping it said all she couldn't. 

Dean nodded in silent agreement and the rest of the ride went on. They stopped for some gas, some food and to stretch their legs. Amber took a walk down to a small creek near the gas station, sitting on a park bench and just watching the water rush on by. 

She heard the crunch of his footsteps behind her, but didn’t look back. Sam sat down next to her, their shoulders bumping together. She held out her hand for his, and he took it, gladly, tangling their fingers together. She leaned her head on his shoulder and they just sat there for a moment. The breeze whistling the winds, and the water running down the creek. The birds sang, and the sung blared down on them and the world went on by. 

"Where were you?" Sam whispered. 

"It’s a long story, Sam." 

"Then summaries a bit... for me?" 

She nodded, taking a deep breath. He placed a gently kiss on top of her head. 

"I went down to help my friend out," Sam hummed a yes, "we got in a bit of a tangle with some demons and they kind of freaked out when they saw me. I don’t know why. I just thought it was because I was clearly so awesome." 

Sam huffed a laugh. "You are so awesome." 

"Thanks. But, it was more than that. They were fine to attack us until they got a good look at me. One of them clear out ran away, the other tried to take off my head." She could feel Sam tense up next to her, but she didn't move. She kept staring at the water rushing by. "So I was... curious. We tracked down one of them, and tried to get him to tell us what was up. He just muttered something about the prophecy coming to pass and then he was out the body and that was that." 

"A prophecy? Like Dean said?" 

"Yeah, exactly like that." 

Sam unlinked their hands, getting up. "We need to talk to Dean." 

Amber shook her head, "You know as well as me that if we push him he will just back off more." 

"This is about you, Amber! He knows about this. About you!" His voice rising, hands clenched in frustration. 

Amber stood up on the bench, eye level with Sam. She took his face in her hands. "It will be okay," she whispered as she slowly pressed their lips together. She didn’t move. Her eyes clenched shut, their lips together, she held on to him as if he was the last lifeline she had. His hands came up, enclosing around her, holding her like maybe she was his last lifeline too. 

Their lips parted, and the kiss deepened. Amber's hands moved to around his neck, and his clasped around her. 

She savored the sweet taste of him, but pulled away before it could too far. They didn't have the time now for that. And it hurt her more than any other bruise on her body. 

His pupils dilated he stared at her, as she let another layer of herself peel back. 

"It will be okay." She said again, more to herself, because she needed to believe it was true. 

\--- 

The closer they got to 'help' the more anxious Dean felt. Everyone had sat in silence after the last stop. Dean noticed the small looks Sam and Amber gave each other, and he would be almost happy that they finally were getting somewhere, if it wasn’t for the fact that the shit storm of all shit storms was about to descend upon them.  
Honestly, them finally kissing was worse for the whole situation. If this went south then Sam would watch someone else he cared about go up in flames. And Dean would lose... well he would lose Amber too. As annoying as she was, he doesn't know how they would go on without her. 

So he kept mute on what he knew. And hoped that maybe if he kept the truth to himself then it couldn’t hurt anyone else. He should know better by now, but Dean never liked to learn his lessons and so he drove on until the red sky turned black and the stars stretched across the sky. 

Amber was asleep in the back of the car, and Sam was sitting in silence just watching the road, playing with his lips between his teeth. 

"It won't be much longer now." Dean offered. Sam nodded. 

"That good then, ey?" 

"What?" 

"The kiss." 

Sam turned to Dean, and chuckled. Dean beamed back at him, winking. 

"Oh Sammy boy. You didn't think you could keep that from your big brother, did you? Even though you only kissed like some high school kid..." 

Sam fake punched Dean, who feigned pain rubbing his arm profusely. 

"Seriously, though, Sammy, It's about time." 

"Yeah, maybe it is." 

Dean watched Sam's expression turn as his smile faded and worry took hold of him. He was good at hiding his emotions from most people, but Dean was not one of those people. 

"I wish I could tell you..." 

"You could." 

"Sammy, it's not that easy." 

"Only because you won't let it be." 

Dean sighed, running his hands through his hair. Sam turned to look out the window and the silence stretched between them like the open road with no ending in site. 

"Come on Dean, just tell me. Tell me that this will all be okay. That she will be okay?"  
Dean watched Sam out the corner of his eye. He saw the desperation, and heard the quiver in his voice. There were two choices in life: Hurt them with the truth, or soothe them with a lie. And Sammy had been hurt too many times before. 

"She will be fine, Sammy. I promise." Dean kept his eyes on the dark road ahead of him, praying to every entity he knows to help him keep that promise. Just this one time. 

\--- 

"Amber? Amby... we are here." Sam gently rubbed her shoulder. Amber opened her eyes to his soft smile and took his hand as he helped her sit up. She stumbled out the car. 

There was a wooden cabin surrounded by tall green trees, swaying in the night air. The stars twinkled above, as if they were watching a show. Amber imagined that maybe humans were the best soap opera the stars could watch. 

The smoke puffed out of the chimney as warm light spilled from the behind the drawn curtains of the cabin. Dean was already walking up the stars, his hands deep in his pocket. 

Sam put his arm around her shoulder, and offered her one kiss on top of her head again. She took it and treasured it. 

They followed Dean up the stairs who turned to look at them, but said nothing. From behind the door the floor boards creaked and the door swung open. And old man, his one eye covered with a patch, and oven mittens on stood at the entrance of the door. He was hunched over from age, but Amber imagined that he was once a lot taller, mightier, maybe even scarier. Though, for some reason, she felt a slight peace in his presence. And utter familiarity. 

He looked at her, a shocked but trying to hide it. His eye darted from her to Sam, and finally to Dean. 

"Ah Dean Winchester. I was wondering when you would show up." 

"Coeus. Mind if we come in?" 

"Not at all. Not at all." The old man stood back, opening his arms as the three of them walked into his cabin. There was a small kitchen to the left hand side which opened up to the sitting room on the right. Straight ahead was a long passageway darkened, with seeming no end. 

"Some tea, perhaps?" 

"How's about a beer?" Dean chuckled. The old man winked at him and hobbled over to the fridge, where he pulled out four beers. They each took one. 

"So, my dear, I take it you have met Morpheus?" He smiled at Amber as if this was as common of a question as asking about the weather. She choked down her mouthful of beer. 

"Do I know you?" She asked, trying to catch onto the tail of a memory she couldn’t ever remember having. 

"I suppose you wouldn't. Not anymore, or perhaps, not yet." The old man took a sip of his beer. Dean would not look at her, deciding to wonder around and look at the small trinkets in the sitting area. 

"How would she, or could she?" Sam asked, gripping her hand. 

"That, my dear boy, is a long story," Coeus answered, looking at their hands and smiling as if was what he had hoped for all along. 

"Yeah, well, we don’t really have time," Dean chimed from across the room. "Just picking up some stuff and we will be off." 

"No." Amber said. She looked to the old man, and then to Sam. He squeezed her hand again. "We have time." 

"No. Amber. We do not." 

"Yes. Dean. We do. And if you aren't going to tell me what is going on then I will damn sure figure it out myself. And if this gentleman is will to help, then great. At least someone is!" 

"Commander of Armies." The old man muttered as he strode into the kitchen, just as a timer went off. 

"What?" Sam and Amber said at the same time. Dean sighed and collapsed into a chair. 

"Oh, my brownies are ready." Coeus opened the over, and lifted out a perfectly baked batch of brownies. The smell wafted through the open space, and only added to the homeliness. "This story is not one to have on empty stomachs. Anyone for that tea now?" 

Dean grunted from the chair, rubbing his face with his hands. Amber looked up at Sam and shrugged. "If it can tell us..." 

"I'm in if you are." Sam answered. She nodded. 

"Three teas please, and some brownies will be great." 

"Delightful!" Coeus clapped his hands and got busy making the tea. 

\--- 

Amber was outside the cabin. The soft afternoon sun bright in the sky. The green trees waving around her. She was in a white dress, wrapping around her ankles as the breeze tugged at it. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders. No shoes on her feet, but she didn’t mind. 

"They are Ash Trees." The voice said softly beside her. Amber turned to see a tall man, with black wings folded behind his back, smiling at her. 

"Morpheus?" 

"That I am. And you are?" 

"I am..." Amber wasn’t sure. She looked at him puzzled. 

"Not to worry. It will come to you." He offered out his arm, "Let us take a walk through the trees." She took it. 

"These trees are the sacred trees of Apollo. But they have more meaning than that. Legend has it that they were the first trees of man. That from them the knowledge of the world grew." 

Amber listened, but offered no thoughts of her own. They waded through the tall grass just past the first row of trees, walking up a hill. 

"Ah Apollo. He was rather dashing. But now, his sister, there was a true warrior." 

"Athena?" 

Morpheus looked down at Amber happily. "Yes, Athena. Such a sad story for such a lovely girl." 

Amber nodded as if she understood, but wasn't sure how. 

"Where is Sam? And Dean?" 

"They are back at the cabin. We won't be long. We just need to have a talk. Coues will keep them company." 

"Talk about what?" 

"About you, of course." 

"Why me?" Amber stopped just as they reached the top of the hill. Morpheus laughed. 

"I suppose it's fitting after all." He shook his head and walked on ahead. 

"What is fitting?" 

"That you are just like her." 

"Like who?" Amber jogged to catch up to him. 

"Well, like Athena of course. You do remember, don't you?" Morpheus opened his large black wings, smiling at her. He stroked her cheek, "Don't be afraid, my old friend. It will be better this time around." And kicked off from the ground leaving Amber alone with the trees. 

The world spun as she watched him sore off. It spun and spun and pulled a scream from her. Her head hurt and her ears rang. And Amber screamed as the world spun and the memories spun and everything from now, and then, and what will be meshed together. 

And she spun, and spun until it stopped. 

"Amber! Amber!" She could hear Sam shouting at her. Could feel him gripping her shoulders. 

"Come on now, little one! Don't fuck with me like this!" Dean was shouting too. "Coeus wake her up!" 

"But, dear boy, she is awake." 

Amber slowly opened her eyes to see the brothers watching her. 

"I..." She sat forward holding her head in her hands. Sam was stroking her back, asking if she was okay. Amber shook her head. 

"Coeus, what did you do?" Dean spat at him. "I came here for help!" 

"I did nothing, Dean. She is just remembering, and remembering can hurt." 

Dean kneeled next to Amber too. "Sammy, get her some water." 

"Yeah, sure." 

"Amber?" Dean hesitantly asked. 

"I am still me, jerkface." 

"Oh thank God for that. Sammy! She called me jerkface! It's still her!" Dean was hugging her, and she melted into his arms. "It's still you," he said over and over again. 

"Dean? Why wouldn’t it be her?" 

Dean let go of Amber, reluctantly. Sam looked from her to him, confused and worried. Dean ran his hands through his hair, not meeting Sam's eyes. 

"Because I didn’t always used to be Amber." She said. 

\--- 

"Yes," answered Coues, "She is Athena. And she is Amber. She has an old soul in a new body." 

Amber had taken her time explaining to Sam who she was and what that meant. Dean listened silently in the corner, nursing beer after beer. 

"Then that means that Olympus is about to fall." Amber said. She was sitting next to Sam, holding his hand. She couldn’t really believe half of this herself, never mind hoping Sam would too. 

"Why?" 

"Because you would only bring your best general back when the armies needed leading," Coues answered as if it was obvious. Sam shook his head. Dean had left, deciding to take a drive. Amber didn’t try to stop him. She knows what he must be going through. She knows what the end of the road looks like for her now. She had always known, in a way. And she knew that Dean knew too. The supernatural doesn’t just find you. It is something that you are born into. It is something that is tethered to your life, like the end of a hook on a line. 

"So the demons?" 

"They could see the real me, or at least, the energy around me. All supernatural beings can sense another one." 

"And what about the unicorn?" Sam asked. Coues chuckled. 

"Ah, that was for you Sam." 

"For me?" 

Coues nodded. He leaned back in his chair, hands clasped together. "Amber is your mythical creature, your beautiful being. She is your fairytale. Morpheus was sending you a message as much as he was sending her one." 

"But the unicorn was killed." 

"Yes. It was." 

Sam's breath hitched. He got up, pulling Amber with him. "We are leaving. Now." 

"No, Sam. Even if we run, we can't outrun this." 

"I won't let anything happen to you. I won't."  
Amber reached up to stroke his cheek again, looking at the sadness and desperation in his eyes. 

"I know, Sam." She turned to Coues, whose face mirrored that of Sam's. History repeated itself, one way or another. A broken soul would remain broken, no matter how many lives it lived. 

Hers seemed to be destined for sadness, and Sam's too. But, at least she knew, if she could find him this time, she could find him again. 

"How long do we have?" 

"You can have tonight, dear child." Coues stood, and walked to her placing a kiss on her forehead. He clasped a hand to Sam's shoulder. "I am sorry that this has to happen again." 

Amber knew her way around the old cabin now. A part of her had been here many times before. She took Sam by the hand and lead him down the long passage, the darkness wrapping its way around them as they left the world behind them.  
The room's door at the end of the passage was open, expecting them. Inside a huge four post bed stood against the wall. To the left side was a large old French door leading out to a garden that was alight with fireflies. 

The only light in the room was the soft beams that had escaped from the moon and came in dancing across the floor.  
Sam said nothing as she closed the door behind her. He stood there, looking out at the garden, arms folded across his chest. She went up to him, rubbing a hand along his back. He unfolded his arms, letting them hang loosely by his side, defeated. 

"Sam." She whispered to him, walking around to face him. "I'm sorry." 

She felt the pressure in her chest, taking in a deep breath to try and drown out the tears. But she couldn’t. "I am so sorry." She barely whispered to him. A tear escaped. 

Sam wiped it away, cusping her face in his hands. "No. No! You have nothing to be sorry about. This is not the end." He leaned forward, placing his lips on hers. Trying to tug her back, because she was his lifeline, and he was hers. And maybe, for a moment, they could pretend that it would last forever. 

His kisses were desperate, trying to latch onto the taste of her. Their lips parted, and she gripped onto his shirt. The moonlight danced around them, and time slowed down. Each kiss was a new promise. A new hope. A new memory. And Amber would cherish everyone for as many more lives that she would live. 

Sam moved her over to the bed, with each new kiss, slowly laying her down. She lifted his top over his head, running her hands along his back, along the scars and muscles. She traced the lines of him to memory. 

He lifted her shirt off, stopping to look at her in the pale moonlight. There were no need for words. No time for them. But she knew what he wanted to say. And she wanted to say it too. 

Maybe next time they would finally get it right. 

They spent the night tracing the learning about every scar, every inch of each other. They laid in the moonlight, in each others arms stealing soft kisses and whispering to each other. 

Amber giggled and Sam smiled. And for the moment they were okay. They had finally fallen into place together. 

But soon morning would come with her insistence and this moment would fade to memory for both of them. 

And it then would all start again.


End file.
